County lines drugs blamed for Kent’s big rise in knife crime

Just in case you thought knife crime was just an urban issue. This article shows how it permeates into its hinterland. It tells us:

But cuts to youth services are just one factor that police, community workers and others cite for an often overlooked rise in knife crime outside London in counties such as Kent, which has experienced a rise of 152% since 2010, according to ONS figures.

They include the spillover of violence from so-called county lines – drug dealing that involves urban gangs moving drugs and cash between city hubs and provincial areas – as well as London councils’ relocation of homeless families to outside the capital, in some cases being followed by the dangers from which the parents have sought to shield their children.